Handcuffed
by E. Limberg
Summary: Castle and Beckett wake up handcuffed together in the middle of an empty warehouse.  Will they be able to escape or do they have to wait for help to arrive?  Castle/Beckett


**Handcuffed**

Castle slowly opens his eyes, trying to take in his surroundings. As he regains consciousness completely, he remembers her. They had been together before everything went black. "Kate," he calls into the dimly lit room. He fights the cold metal rings that bind his hands behind his back. His fingers brush against flesh, and he freezes. Upon turning as best he can while handcuffed, he discovers that she is behind him, facing the opposite direction so he cannot tell if she is okay. He wraps his hand around hers, "Kate, are you okay?"

"Castle?" she says hoarsely, fighting to stay conscious.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

"I don't think so," she says, trying to pull at the handcuffs binding her.

"Ow, stop pulling," he yells.

The detective struggles to look over her shoulders, "Oh God, no."

"What?" he panics, trying to look over his own shoulder.

"We're handcuffed together."

"Well… I've always wanted you to use your handcuffs on me, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

She ignores his comment, "Any clue as to where we are?"

"Nope. Where do you keep the keys to these things?"

"They're with my car keys. In my jacket pocket. And I have no clue where my jacket went."

"Well, I suppose we should see if there's any way to move so we can actually see what we're doing. And possibly use our hands even if they are handcuffed together," he muses. "My right hand is cuffed to your… right hand. And left to left. So if one of us just turns around, we won't be twisted anymore."

"Or we'll both end up with broken arms."

"Can't you have some faith in me?"

"No."

"Either way we should probably stand up. We're not going to escape if we just sit here on the floor." It takes them a few minutes to stand up from their uncomfortable position on the ground without using their hands. "Okay, Kate, I need you to trust me. I'm sorry if I cause you any pain, but we have to do something to try to get out of here."

Before she can open her mouth to protest, he is bending down and twisting around so that they are facing the same direction, bringing his arm over his head and effectively uncrossing their handcuffed hands.

"That's better. You okay?"

"Fine. You?"

"Kind of have a headache. I think they hit me over the head with something," he turns his head to the side and steps closer to her.

She tries to look over her shoulder to see it, "I can't really tell in this poor lighting." Kate lifts her hand to feel his head for a bump.

As soon as her hand makes contact with his skin, he jumps back, "Kate, you're freezing."

"I'm fine," she tries to brush his concern aside.

"Kate," he says, warning her not to lie.

She turns her face away from him, "Okay, I am a little cold. But there isn't exactly anything we can do about that until we get out of here."

Rick steps closer to her timidly, not wanting to alarm her and push her further away from him. Slowly he lifts his arms, and therefore hers as well, and wraps them around her stomach. He steps closer still until his chest is pressed against her back.

"Castle…" she whispers, tensing.

"This doesn't have to mean anything, Kate. Just let me keep you warm."

She hesitates for a moment before nodding and relaxing against him, "I guess if we're stuck together, you might as well be useful."

"Use me all you want, Detective. I don't mind."

She rolls her eyes, which he can't see because her hair has fallen in her face. "I suppose we should look for a way out of here or something."

He nods, and they both look around the room for the door. "I don't see anything. But there has to be one somewhere," he whispers.

"Over there maybe," she says, lifting their hands to point to the wall on their right. They slowly make their way over to where she had pointed. Both of them run their fingers over the wall, looking for a crack where the door frame is; there is not a handle for the door inside the room.

"Got it," he says, trying to pry it open with his nails. She joins in the struggle, but it is futile. "I suppose it opens inward so kicking it wouldn't do any good."

"You could always try to use your shoulder, Castle," she smirks at him. "It'd probably be a lot more painful than my door was though."

"No thanks. Besides, I don't want you to get injured too," he holds up their handcuffed hands.

"So what now?"

"Where's your phone?" he asks, trailing his hand down her stomach to check her pocket.

Kate elbows him in the stomach for his move, "In my coat pocket. With my keys."

"I don't suppose they left you your gun."

"No, otherwise you'd be dead after that stunt you just tried to pull."

"Okay… my phone it is then."

She glares at him over her shoulder for a long moment, "Where exactly is your phone, Castle?"

"In my back pocket."

"Castle, I'm _not_ touching your butt."

"I'm not asking you to. But right now this is all we've got, Kate. Your hand has to go back there too. I will dig in my pocket for my phone; you just relax and ignore what happens. Okay? If your hand brushes against my butt, I won't think anything of it, Kate. I know it doesn't mean anything."

"Fine. I still don't like it, but the sooner my hands are free, the better."

"One more thing. I'm sorry if this causes you any pain," he says before removing his right hand from around her stomach and reaching behind him, taking her arm with his.

She stares straight ahead at the wall as he fishes in his pocket for his phone. When he finally has it in his hand, he brings their arms back around her body so that they can see the screen. The screen is black, and no matter what button he presses, it won't turn on. "Shouldn't have such a fancy phone," she mumbles, angry at him for not having his phone charged.

"I knew there was something I wanted to do last night."

"Too busy with your girlfriend, Castle?"

She is glaring at him again, and he doesn't like it at all. "No. Alexis and Martha were the only women in my apartment last night."

"Oh, so you were at her place?"

"No. I don't have a girlfriend, Kate."

"So it was a one-night stand. Even better, Castle."

"Kate -"

"Beckett, Castle. It's Beckett," she sighs exasperatedly.

"Fine, Beckett. The only woman I was with last night was Nikki Heat."

Suddenly she turns, trying face him, which strains their arms. "Pretend this is one of your scenes, Castle. Instead of you and me, it's Nikki and Rook. How would they get out of this situation?"

Rick stares at her for a long moment before finally shrugging. "No idea. They'd have to wait for Raley and Ochoa to come to the rescue. Although they'd be doing a lot more than waiting…"

She rolls her eyes at him before turning back around, "You're no help."

"I don't know what I did to make this whole situation my fault, but go ahead and take all your anger out on me."

"I'm sorry, Castle," she sighs. "But being handcuffed to you all afternoon wasn't exactly high on my list of things to do today."

"It wasn't on my list of things to do today either."

"Now that's hard to believe," she glares at him over her shoulder.

He ignores her comment. "What time is it?" he asks, peering over her shoulder at their raised wrists to see a watch. "Just past seven. I'm sure Ryan and Esposito and Montgomery are all looking for us by now. They've had to have realized that we're gone."

"Or they just think that I finally gave in to you after over two years, and we couldn't keep our hands off each other long enough to get any work done."

"Have some faith in them, Kate."

"Or not," she says, leaning back against him.

"Getting warm yet?" She nods. "Well, I guess it's a good thing that it's not the middle of summer since we're kind of stuck so close together."

"Enjoy it while it lasts, Castle, because this is never going to happen again."

"You sure you're not still cold? I know a way to warm up quickly. And it might change your mind about the never happening again part," he grins.

"I'm good, Castle, so just forget that thought right now."

"You're no fun," he says, pouting.

"Castle, even if I wanted to, being handcuffed together isn't exactly… conducive to that."

"Oh, we could make it work."

Kate shakes her head, "And before you ask, I would not like to test it out."

"Are you sure about that, Detective?" he whispers in her ear.

"Yes," she glares at him yet again. "So how exactly did we get here?"

"Did you get amnesia when they hit you over the head?"

"I don't think they hit me over the head," she frowns, bringing a hand up to feel for a bump on her head.

"Ooh, that would've been cool. Especially if you had lost like a year or two. Maybe then I could've convinced you that you were my girlfriend."

"You are so lucky that I don't have my gun right now, Mr. Castle."

"Well, we were going to talk to your suspect, and as we stepped off the elevator, I got wacked in the head. When I woke up, we were handcuffed together. It was like a dream come true. Except in my dreams you actually enjoy it."

"I remember getting off the elevator. And seeing you get hit in the head. But after that… it's blank."

"Easy. You were unconscious."

"Obviously. But if they didn't hit me on the head, how did I get unconscious?"

"Maybe they drugged you." She shrugs. "You don't think they…?" he trails off, looking down at her body over her shoulder.

"No, Castle," she rolls her eyes.

"It would explain why they drugged you."

"Forget it, Castle."

"Kate?"

"What?" she says, frustration evident in her voice.

"What if they come back? You know… to finish us off? I mean, you don't have your gun and we can't exactly fight them off stuck together like this."

"I don't know, Castle."

"Then we need to get out of these things," he says, panicking and yanking on the handcuffs in hopes of getting free.

"Calm down, Castle," she reaches up to touch his face.

He looks up, his eyes locking with hers. "So… I bet you regret not letting that wordsmith guy teach me to get out of handcuffs."

"I don't think it works when you're handcuffed to another person."

"There's got to be some way to get these darn things off. Don't you have any ideas?"

"They're made for criminals, Castle. You're not supposed to be able to escape."

"We need some… lubricant or something. Like butter."

"Of course there's butter here, Castle," she rolls her eyes again.

He ignores her, "I guess I could always spit on it. That might work."

"You are not spitting on my hand, Richard Castle."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No, but -"

"I suppose we could always stab each other and use our blood to get the handcuffs off. I would totally bite off my own hands except I kind of need them to write so… you can do that."

"Castle, you really -"

"You have a hairpin? Maybe we could pick the locks."

"No. Castle, stop getting so upset. We'll figure it out."

"Can we… sit down or something? Being handcuffed to you is hard work." They sink to the ground, him leaning back against the wall next to the door and her leaning against him, his arms still around her stomach. She is actually quite surprised that he hasn't tried anything with his hands on her other than the one time. He sighs, "I hope they get here soon. I have to pee."

"That's… wonderful, Castle," she sighs, closing her eyes. "You're going to have to hold it, because my hand is _not_ going anywhere near there."

"I can't help it. You drink so much coffee, and every time I refill your cup, I get more for myself. I'm surprised you don't have to go too. You know, you're going to have a wonderful time avoiding coffee if you ever get pregnant."

"Who said anything about me having kids?"

"You don't want any?" he asks, kind of surprised.

"It's not that I don't want them. It's just… hard with my job. And I'd kind of like to be married before that, and at this point, that's not going to be happening soon."

"What happened to your surgeon?"

"We broke up a couple weeks ago."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I broke up with him."

"Well, I would be more than willing to help you with the whole kids situation," he smiles at her, but the mischievous glint is not in his eyes. Castle pulls her back to him, wrapping his arms around her.

She brings her knees to her chest as she leans back against him. Instead of joking with him, she goes for the serious side, hoping that he had meant his previous comment to be serious. "God, Rick, you can be so frustrating sometimes, and I really do want to kill you. But then there are other times when you're so sweet and innocent, and I just want to hug you. I couldn't imagine my life without you in it, Rick." He opens his mouth to speak, but she quickly cuts him off, "Please, Rick. Don't."

"I like you too, Kate," he smiles.

"No… like as in I think I might be in love with you," Kate admits quietly.

"Love?"

"Forget it. I shouldn't have said anything."

"Kate, I think I'm in love with you too."

She turns to look at him. He looks serious, but she has to know. "Castle, I know that all you want is the physical aspect."

"No, Kate. That's not true. Not anymore. At first, yes, I was just interested in finding a new character and getting you in bed. But now… I want to know everything about you, Kate. I want to make you smile and laugh and comfort you and wake up with you next to me every morning. I want to spend every second of the rest of my life with you."

Kate keeps her eyes locked with his, "Really, Castle?"

"You really have to ask?" he asks, pretending to be appalled.

"How do I know you won't leave after I give you what you want?"

"I want you, Kate. For the rest of my life. And not just for purely physical reasons, but since we are on the subject, you are beautiful," he whispers in her ear.

"Castle…"

"I really think you should start calling me Rick, Kate."

She shakes her head lightly, "You'll always be Castle to me."

"If you insist… but I will not call you Beckett." At her look, he amends his statement, "Unless we're at work."

"So where do we go from here?"

"Well, we start with this," he says quietly, timidly leaning forward to kiss her. He is not all that surprised when his lips brush against her cheek instead of her lips. "Kate?"

"Not here, Castle. I don't want our first kiss to be in some empty room of some abandoned building with us handcuffed together."

"Understandable. I wouldn't want to come back here to revisit our memory." She settles back against him, her face turned into his neck as her head rests on his shoulder. He leans his head against hers, "Have dinner with me when we get out of here."

"Castle…"

"Please, Kate. Alexis was cooking tonight, and I'm sure she made plenty and would not mind if you came over."

"By the time we get out of here, it might be too late for dinner," she responds.

"We've been missing for over five hours, Kate. Even if Ryan and Esposito haven't noticed, my mother and daughter have, and I'm sure they called your detectives."

"What if they just think you got caught up with the case?"

"No. I told them I'd be home by six for dinner. I'm sure they've called both of us many times, and since they couldn't reach either of us, they've called the precinct."

She lets her eyes slide closed for a few moments before slowly opening them, finding him staring at her. "What?"

"First, you never agreed to come over for dinner. And second, you seem awfully tired."

"If we get out of here in the next hour, I will come over for dinner. As for being tired, I haven't gotten very much sleep the last few days."

"You have to eat, Kate. Why not eat with me? And why haven't you been sleeping?"

"Fine, Castle, I'll have dinner with you. And I've been working."

"Without me?"

"Yes. I… can't sleep so I look through case files."

"You know you could always call me. Or come over. Whatever you need," Rick says, truly concerned.

"It's okay, Castle. It's just a dream."

"About what?" he pries, hoping she won't close up.

"You, actually."

"What happens?"

"Well, you know that we haven't gotten any leads on the triple killer since…" she cannot bring herself to say since he had almost died. "He… kills you. Or comes back for you. And I can't do anything to stop it."

"That was months ago, Kate. Has this really been happening that long?" She nods slowly. "You should've said something."

"Like what? 'Thanks for the coffee; by the way, I had a dream that you died last night'?"

"Well… no. But maybe I could've done something…" he places his hand over hers.

"There isn't anything you can do."

"But maybe now there is, now that we've admitted how we feel about one another. Maybe you could stay tonight after dinner…"

"Castle, I -"

"I'm not after that, Kate. I just want to be there for you, to comfort you, to let you know that I'm okay."

"Maybe," she whispers.

"Why… why don't you try to get some rest now while we wait for them to rescue us?" he offers.

"I can trust you, right?"

"Of course. My hands won't move," he says, gently rubbing his thumb over her hand. "You're safe here, Kate. I won't let anything happen to you."

She yawns, "What if they come back?"

"I don't think they will, but if they do, I won't let them hurt you."

"And how are you going to fight them off?" she closes her eyes, returning her head to its previous position.

"I'll use my ninja skills," he says, watching the small smile appear on her face before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Promise to wake me up if anything happens."

"I will," he promises.

Almost an hour later Castle is startled awake by noises coming from the other side of the wall he is leaning against. He is relieved that Beckett is still asleep, and before he comes to a decision as to whether or not he should wake her, the door bangs open. He feels her lift her head off of his shoulder, but a bright light shines in their eyes before he can say anything to her.

"You two okay?" Esposito's familiar voice asks.

They blink rapidly at the flashlight beam in their eyes. "We're okay," Castle finally manages to say.

Ryan stares at them for a moment, surprised that his boss allowed the writer to have his arms around her, before offering her a hand, "We've got paramedics outside to check you guys out."

The detective lifts her hand to take his but realizes that she is still handcuffed to Castle. "A, uh… little help with this, guys," she looks at them.

They look at each other before crouching down next to them, digging their keys out. "You sure you want these off?" Esposito grins.

"Yes," Kate and Rick say in unison.

Still smiling, each detective removes a pair of handcuffs. "You two looked a little cozy," Ryan says, again offering her a hand.

She glares at him, "It was cold. And we were stuck together."

"And I suppose nothing happened?" Esposito smirks, helping the writer up.

"Nothing did happen," Castle says, turning to face Beckett for the first time in hours. He really wants to give her a hug, to let her know that everything was okay, but he decides it best not to touch her now that her arms were free.

"You should get your head looked at," she says, reaching out to touch the bump on his head. In the light from the flashlight, she can see a bit of blood around the wound that is just above his hairline.

"You're getting looked at too," he insists, grabbing her wrist and dragging her outside with him.

Ryan and Esposito shake their heads at each other before following them out. While the couple is being taken care of by the paramedics, they tell them how they found them. "We didn't notice how long you had been gone until your mother called us, Castle. So then we went looking for you. The car was still outside the building, and we went up to look for you. Obviously you weren't there, but the guy you had gone to question was. And your gun and badge were in plain view. We got him to tell us what he did with you."

"How did it happen? He hit Castle over the head, but I don't remember anything."

"His buddy hit Castle; he used chloroform on you."

"And my coat?"

"Didn't notice it, but we'll find it. Come on, we'll give you a ride home," Ryan offers.

Castle and Beckett climb in the back of the detectives' car, and they try to hide their smiles when they notice how close together the two are sitting without even realizing it. A little over a half hour later they are pulling up outside Castle's building. Kate is resting her head on his shoulder, and she doesn't lift it off until Ryan and Esposito look back at them.

"What?" she says as they smirk.

"Guys…" Castle warns.

"We get it. Nothing happened. And we're very happy that _nothing_ happened."

"You know what… you guys go on home. I'll get out with Castle here."

"Really?" Esposito asks, still looking between the two of them. "So _nothing_ can happen again?"

"If you guys don't stop, you will be doing all of the paperwork for the next three months," she glares at them.

"We'll be quiet now," Ryan says quickly.

She eyes them for a moment longer before getting out, "See you tomorrow."

"Have a nice night, Beckett."

Castle leads her inside, somehow managing to keep his hands off of her until they are in the elevator. He looks over at her and finds that she is biting her lower lip. Stepping closer to her, he wraps his arms around her. She looks at him for a second before burying her face in his shoulder. "You looked like you needed a hug," he explains simply.

Before she pulls away, she presses a kiss to his cheek. "Thanks, Castle," she smiles, then steps off the elevator, him following her with a hand on her back. Outside of his door, she hesitates. "Alexis… and Martha. What are they going to think about this?"

"They won't judge you, Kate. In fact, I think they'll be quite pleased when they find out about us."

"I don't want to tell them yet. I want to make sure that things between us are going to work first."

"Okay… but don't be surprised if they figure it out before we tell them."

"Maybe I shouldn't stay then," she says quietly.

"No, please, Kate. They aren't going to say anything. Stay. At least for dinner."

She doesn't get a chance to reply because Alexis opens the door. "Dad, you're okay," she says before hugging him.

Kate steps back to give them some space. Martha comes to the door to see what is going on and hugs her, "Kate, it's so good to see you. I take it you both are okay?"

"We're fine. Castle just has a bump on his head."

"What happened, Dad?" Alexis pulls back to look at him.

"We went to talk to a suspect. And they knocked us out. When we woke up, we were in an abandoned building. And we were handcuffed together," he smirks at Kate, who rolls her eyes. "There was no way out. We had to wait for Ryan and Esposito to find us."

"Handcuffed together?" Martha and Alexis look to Kate for confirmation.

"Yes. I thought having him follow me around all day was horrible, but being handcuffed to him is so much worse," the detective tells them.

"I imagine so," Martha smiles at her.

"Hey," Castle pretends to be wounded as they step inside the apartment.

"Dinner is in the oven. You have to heat it back up. But there's plenty left so you should definitely stay, Detective Beckett," Alexis smiles. "I should get to bed. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"Thanks. Good night, sweetie," Castle says.

She kisses his cheek, "Night, Dad." Then she turns to the detective and hugs her, "Thanks for keeping him safe. And putting up with him all day."

The teenager is up the stairs before Beckett can protest and say that it was her fault that Castle had ended up in that position; she hadn't done anything to keep him safe. Castle grabs her arm and pulls her into the kitchen, "You want a drink?"

"Sure."

"Refill my glass while you're at it, dear. Thanks," Martha pushes her glass toward him.

He turns the oven on to heat up their dinner before getting out and filling two glasses with wine and refilling his mother's glass. "So you and Alexis called the boys?"

"Yes. We called you when you weren't back by six-thirty, but it went straight to voicemail. Kate didn't answer either so we called Detective Esposito. He hadn't seen you guys in a few hours so he was going to go look for you."

"My phone died. And Kate lost her jacket with her phone and keys somewhere."

"I did not lose them, Castle; they were taken."

"Either way, she was pretty useless because her phone and the keys that would have freed us were in there."

"Like you were any help," she retorts.

Martha looks from Beckett to her son, knowing that something had changed between them while they were stuck together. She takes her glass of wine and heads up to her own room to give the two privacy. They don't even notice her leaving.

"I was too. We would still be stuck there if it weren't for my mother and daughter."

"We could have gotten out sooner if you would have charged your phone."

"Maybe if you had been a better cop we wouldn't have even been in that situation," he says, then immediately wishes he could take it back.

She just stares at him. "You are right. I should've been a better cop. I should've been more cautious walking in with you, and I should've protected you," she says so quietly he can barely hear it.

"Kate… it wasn't your fault. I was distracting you."

"You are very distracting," she agrees with a small smile.

Castle steps closer to her, pinning her between his body and the counter. "You can be very distracting too, Detective," he whispers in her ear.

"Really?" she puts both hands on his shoulders.

"Yes. Nikki Heat has been very hard to write lately. Every time I sit down to write, all I can think about is you," he rests his hands on her waist.

"Maybe I need to be more inspiring," Kate flashes him a mischievous grin before stepping out of his arms. She takes a few steps before jumping up to sit on his counter and taking a sip of wine. "Or maybe we should just call it quits. Obviously you can't get much done with me around."

"No, definitely not. I write even less when I haven't seen you in a while," he panics.

"Relax, Castle. I'm not going anywhere."

He sits down next to her, "So… you'll stay tonight?"

"Yes."

"If you would… prefer not to sleep in my room, you can stay in the guest room."

"I don't know, Castle. You made a pretty good pillow earlier," she teases.

"As I said earlier, Detective, feel free to use me however you desire."

"I will, Castle. Eventually. But right now I like you as a pillow," she yawns as she sets her head down on his shoulder once more.

They sit in a comfortable silence like that for several minutes until Rick decides he can't take it any longer. "Can I kiss you, Kate?"

She abruptly lifts her head and looks at him. "You're… asking?"

"…Yes. I would rather not get shot."

"In case you haven't noticed, Castle, I don't have my gun. And since you asked… no. Maybe if you surprise me later I'll let you." He pouts. "Look, Castle, I appreciate you asking my permission, but you don't have to. Surprise me after dinner and maybe you'll get lucky."

He smiles again, "Really, Kate? I hope you're not just teasing me."

"Not… as lucky as you seem to think. But… I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

He kisses her forehead before getting off the counter to serve them dinner. After setting two plates at the table, he reaches out for her hand to lead her to the table. As they eat, they talk about work and Alexis mostly, but he does get her to tell him a couple stories about her childhood. Grateful for her opening up to him, he also shares a few stories with her. Once he has put the dishes in the dishwasher and started it, he again takes her hand and leads her to his bedroom.

He opens his dresser drawer to get out a pair of pajama pants for himself. "Take whatever you want."

She looks at him timidly, biting her lip. "Can I… have your shirt?" she finally asks.

Castle looks down at his blue dress shirt before shrugging. "I guess. But doesn't that normally come after sleeping together?" he slowly starts to unbutton it for her.

She shrugs in return, "You have a problem with it?"

"Not at all," he hands her the navy blue shirt. "If you want the boxers, you're going to have to take them off of me."

"I'm good," she says, letting her eyes travel down his chest. "One other thing: keep the shirt off in bed."

Before he can reply, she has shut the bathroom door. When she comes out, he is already lying on the bed, staring at her with a smile on his face. "That shirt definitely looks better on you," he holds his arm out to her as she climbs in beside him.

"That's good 'cause I like you like this," she runs a hand over his chest and settles herself against his side.

"Kate, can you make me a promise?"

"Depends on what it is."

"You know how I always wanted you to use your handcuffs on me in bed? Well, that was before I had my hands on you. And now I don't want you to ever use your handcuffs because I… like touching you," he says, wrapping his arm around her back.

"If you're good at work and keep your hands off of me, I won't use them," she replies.

"You are an evil woman, Beckett."

"What did I do?" she asks, lifting her head up from his chest to look at him.

"You seriously expect me to keep my hands off of you all day long?"

"Yes."

Suddenly he rolls over on top of her, supporting his weight with his arms so as not to hurt her, "You're going to regret that."

"I will not," she replies calmly.

"Yes, you will."

"And what exactly are you going to do?"

"I… haven't figured that out yet," he admits.

"Somehow I think anything you do to punish me is going to punish you more," she smirks.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to do this then," he looks into her eyes before slowly lowering his lips to hers. She wraps her arms around him, drawing him closer to her. He is surprised that she lets it last this long but decides it best not to press his luck. Slowly he pulls back, opening his eyes to look at her.

"If that's how you're going to punish me, I will be strictly enforcing my touching rule," Kate grins.

He laughs as he rolls off of her, "We will definitely be doing that a lot."

"I agree," she presses another kiss to his lips and then curls up at his side again, using him as a pillow.

"Thank you, Kate. I don't deserve someone as extraordinary as you," Rick whispers, kissing the top of her head.

Kate kisses his chest directly above his heart. "You said it yourself, Castle: the heart wants what the heart wants. And my heart has chosen you."

**A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed this and the new episode. Please let me know what you thought of this. I might start posting my next story towards the end of the week. It's speculation for the upcoming kiss, but I've only written the first chapter and want to add at least two more. Anyway, thanks for reading.**


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